Doubts Aloud Podcast

Show NotesTom Holland’s book ‘Dominion’ has caused quite a stir in Christian apologetics circles over the last few years and we’ve been reading it. We also attended a church leader’s evening where he was the speaker.  So we thought we would start a “Doubts Aloud Book Club” with Dominion the first book covered.We introduce Tom, his current faith position and the book, we discuss his style and how much we enjoyed the read.  We present the key messages that Tom seeks to make and talk about whether it’s a book useful for apologetics.  Finally, we read some extracts that had struck us and discussed them.A later episode on the book will cover more on the critical responses, including ours.  He makes a bold and interesting set of claims that we can both learn from and see where we, and historians, may disagree. Links:That bookhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Dominion-Making-Western-Tom-Holland/dp/0349141207 The Justin Brierley Spectator article:https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/a-christian-revival-is-under-way-in-britain/  Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using:  doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/ Meet us all in person again at the monthly  “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion  Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London 

Show NotesWe are excited to have guest Rev Michael Roberts with us, he’s an Oxford geologist who subsequently became an Anglican vicar. He is extremely knowledgeable on the history of geology and the age of the earth in science, Christian academic thought, theology and the modern Young Earth movement. Did you know that Darwin was a geologist at the start of his career? Neither did we. Links:Michael’s blog is:https://michaelroberts4004.wordpress.com/Michael’s paper “Just before the Beagle”:https://drive.google.com/file/d/17qo3zEeYKZlwL_Y8DpoX3F-35BO4rPPz/view?usp=sharing His 5 day trip exploring Darwin in Waleshttps://www.newscientist.com/tours/retracing-charles-darwins-travels-across-north-wales/?fbclid=IwAR372bjMkHAcr0UU4p6B9KqztYkaOk5bxLH4PUgXRT06Nfo75iuhank-gac That Ovid bookhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metamorphoses That Genesis Flood 1961 book:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Genesis_Flood(The link also mentions the Bernard Ramm book “The Christian View of Science and Scripture” we mentioned.) That irreverent cartoon on Adam and Eve overpopulating the globe due to obedience:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziQrzXmjk-M Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using: doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/ Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

Show NotesThis month we return to that different form of Apologetics - Presuppositional Apologetics. Please see Part 1 - Episode 70 - where we gave a more social and historical background to it. Here we look at the basic argument made: the Transcendental Argument for God, “TAG”. We set it out and discuss implications and objections to it. Links:The Debunking Christianity material on Presup:https://www.debunking-christianity.com/2022/08/the-failure-of-van-tillian.html The short clip of someone doing a ‘reverse Presup’ on Presuppositional Apologists, invoking a “non-conscious power”:https://youtu.be/BPF8lcYWQ1Y?si=_B8mO9jUKdA6z8Q7 Blog expanding on our point that our desire for there to be reliable rationality does not show there ishttps://useofreason.wordpress.com/2019/05/10/the-limitations-of-transcendental-arguments/ Julian Baggini’s book “How the World Thinks”https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-World-Thinks-History-Philosophy/dp/1783782285 The Dan Linford paper given to us by Josh on skeptical theism and how it destroys TAGhttps://www.dropbox.com/s/4iojx3honcv4mv4/On_Knowledge_Without_God_Van_Tillian_Pre.docx?fbclid=IwAR34-aQh0Kny9J6pTCQbSKyiiuZauzza1j4ddu4WeCTE3XsXCGqdJFq4sa4 Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using: doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/ Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

Show NotesWe deal with the current conflict in Israel and Gaza by looking at the influence of religion, in the minds of the Israeli leaders & the settlers taking land in the West Bank and also in the minds of the Evangelical Zionist backers in the UK and US. The UK evangelical influence is more of historical interest but the US is very current and is influencing events now. Links etc:The video by Al Jazeera used for extracts at the start of the show – “How Evangelicals Betray Christians In The Holy Land”https://youtu.be/nHT-SjIM0tA?si=yok7IZPkxAMyasQf Sky News – the Benjamin Netanyahu speech with translation, Amalek bit from 1min50shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5LmB6uup3o Guardian article with quotes from a settler and an administrator of settlementshttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/18/these-are-biblical-lands-promised-to-us-jewish-settlers-in-west-bank-hope-gaza-conflict-will-help-their-cause Pew Research on Jews in Israelhttps://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/03/08/in-israel-jews-are-united-by-homeland-but-divided-into-very-different-groups/ Israel Policy Forum article (an American Jewish organization that works for a negotiated solution to the conflict)https://israelpolicyforum.org/west-bank-settlements-explained/ The video from Turkish TV with a Rabbi condemning Israeli aggression in Gazahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FNtMV2i8-8 Factual article on the British evangelicals behind the Balfour Declarationhttps://balfourproject.org/evangelicals-the-balfour-declaration-and-zionism/ UK Christian teacher David Pawson's lecture:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ika1apsadrQ Video of Franklin Graham Meeting Netanyahuhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozWdH8s32pI Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using: doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/ Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

Show NotesMerry Christmas one and all and what could be more festive than digging into the historical reliability of that Census? The one Luke uses to set up his nativity narrative. We make our case as to why this matters, after all, Luke is said to be a great historian by many. Then we get to it dealing with the 3 main historical issues with the census as presented by Luke:he says it covered the entire Roman world but there is no record of it elsewhere,he presents this strange idea of ‘everyone’ going to their ancestral home to register andhe that it took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria which was about 10 years after Herod died, but Luke (and Matthew) also place the narrative in Herod’s reign.Of course we dig into the better defenses apologists and bible scholars have proposed. Links etc:Read the key parts of the narrative: Luke1v5, v26-7 then Lk2v1-8 and then v22 and v39. A simple Uni Idaho link we used to start our researchhttps://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/ngier/census.htm

Show NotesThis month we (in our view) bravely jump into a completely different form of Apologetics - Presuppositional Apologetics. It can be a bid disorientating as in Andrew’s words it can be summarised as “God’s word says you are wrong so you have no case to make". Frances is more measured with her summary: “the only proof of the Christian position is that, unless its truth is presupposed, there is no possibility of proving anything at all”. We give a brief history starting from Cornelius Van Til “the Father of presuppositionalism”. It is linked with Calvinism, also called ‘Reformed Theology’. It’s use in other religions and branches in Christianity is informative, as it’s usual bedfellow – Young Earth Creationism. There will be a Part 2 on this next year. Links:If you need more we recommend the treatment by the Reasonable Doubts podcast – episodes 97 & 98. Frances mentioned an article by Keith A. Mathison- here’s the link:https://tabletalkmagazine.com/posts/christianity-and-van-tillianism-2019-08/ Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using: doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/ Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

Show NotesIn this episode Andrew shares his research on the origins of the Book of Mormon and the early roots of the Mormon church. This includes discussing the belief that gold plates were discoverd near New York in the early 19th century that gave the purported story of jews emigrating from the holy land to the americas in around 600 BC. Andrew also covers aspects of the character and background of the founder of the Mormon church, Joseph Smith. Also discussed is the cultural context and setting with the probable sources that influenced the formation of the book of Mormon. We also discuss the very facinating succesors to the Jospeth Smith, Brigham Young and also his rival, a certain James Strang and his very facinating story. For the hosts of this podcast we cannot help but see so many parallels with Mormonism and evangelical christianity. The many schisms, the fundamentalist and progressive divide, the apologetic strategies, prophecies that were unfullfilled and the pure devotion and passion for the book of Mormon as the word of God. All these aspects ring so true with evanglical christianity. Its easy as outsiders to see right through Mormonism but not so easy to look at ones own faith with the same level of honest critiscism.We have so much evidence to wade through with Mormon history and we can't help but think what would the early roots of Christianity look like if we had the wealth of contempory evidence that Mormon history has at our disposal. Would it bring to light the dark side of the human interactions and stories surrounding christian origins that would shock us if the reality was like that of the history of the Mormon church?The facinating story of James Strang, a contender to succeed Josepth Smith. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl83_X1Zslw

Show NotesAndrew has been following a story about a ‘Curse Tablet’ found at an archaeological site in Israel which proponents claim should up-end Biblical Archaeology in such a way as to confirm the conservative evangelical view of the Torah – the first five books of the OT. We look into it and hear from both sides.This led on to Ed introducing the chapter in the ‘50 Arguments for God’ book on Biblical Archaeology. It concentrated on the NT and we picked up especially on one claim in the chapter, that the archaeology concerning 1stC tombs around Jerusalem helped confirm the gospel account. After some digging (yes, a pun) we think that we unearthed (sorry) a different story.Links:Link for apologists making hay on Curse Tablet: Sean McDowel with the main proponenthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEVEKX_0x08And after the push back, another episode with a Christian scholar who dismissed the Curse Tablethttps://youtu.be/SBmuNw59AOgResponses from academic, Dr. Robert Cargillhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkBByBE2OUohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0Scp85Nlnk

This episodes is Part 2 of a 2 part show with just with Andrew on his own and and he recounts in detail his own de-conversion story.

This episodes is Part 1 of a 2 part show with just with Andrew on his own and and he recounts in detail his own de-conversion story.

Show NotesWe continued our discussion with friend of ours Josh Parikh - a Christian Apologist who has always thought deeply about the issues and maintained intellectual integrity.There were two Old Testament case studies that Josh included in his talk “A Tumultuous Period in Apologetics?” to the Discussion Group in London, and we were keen not to miss these out: the famous story of bears mauling 42 children and the patriarchy with misogamy in both the narratives and especially in prophets Hosea 2, Nahum 3 and most horrifyingly in Ezekiel 16. We also covered some feedback on Part 1 concerning the American church and apologetics scene ... we gave the UK view on it and feedback from US listeners would be great. Links:“God: An Anatomy” by Francesca Stavrokopoulou“Raw Revelation: The Bible They Never Tell You About” by Mark Roncace“The Violence of God and the War on Terror” by Jeremy Young Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using: doubtsaloud@gmail.com

Show NotesJosh Parikh is an old friend of ours having contributed to our Discussion Groups over many years as a Christian Apologist who has always thought deeply about the issues and maintained intellectual integrity. He has been on a journey, especially having engaged with Biblical scholarship. This has overlapped with his time at Oxford University and continued since graduating. Like many, he has remained a Christian and has moved in a ‘progressive’ direction. Josh recently gave a talk “A Tumultuous Period in Apologetics?” to the “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in London, and we were eager to have him share that material on the show. Josh sees a crisis not just in the scandals such as with Ravi Zacharias but at a root conflict between the aims of apologetics in conservative Christianity and the commitments involved in genuine scholarship. We had so much to talk about that we will need 2 shows to benefit fully from Josh’s wisdom. Links:We strongly recommended this podcast: “The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill” Randal Rauser books in conversation with atheists:“God or Godless?: One Atheist. One Christian. Twenty Controversial Questions.” by John W. Loftus and Randal Rauser 2013“An Atheist and a Christian Walk into a Bar: Talking about God, the Universe, and Everything” by Randal Rauser and Justin Schieber 2019 Josh recommends: “The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son – the Transformation of Child Sacrifice and Christianity: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity” 1995 by Jon D Levenson YouTube clips :The film Andrew mentioned - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLbDSxTUuIoThe apologist who previously was hot on resolving contradictions -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dk1cPnnz-Go Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using: doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/ Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

Show NotesFor Part 2 of our discussion of same-sex relationships, sexual practice and the Bible, we start with background and origins for the OT Law (we covered its interpretation in Part 1). One scholar has identified an evolution in the laws in Leviticus from a more lenient view to the harsh one found in the final text.Frances has researched reactions to these laws in Jewish writings and that led to a wider ‘world tour’ or religious treatment of the issues.Links:See pp 291 & 292 here for ANE backgroundhttps://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10138/325479/EBR_Homosexuality.pdf?sequence=1And here for the possible evolution in the laws in Leviticus by Idan Dershowitz https://www.academia.edu/37294841/The_Secret_History_of_Leviticus_New_York_TimesHere is Dr Michael Brown’s commentaryhttps://archive.askdrbrown.org/library/creating-new-version-leviticus-support-gay-sexLinks for mediaeval and modern Jewish thoughthttps://www.myjewishlearning.com/2013/04/19/to-plant-or-not-to-plant-seed-the-truth-of-homosexuality-in-the-bible/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/orthodox-judaism-and-lgbtq-issues/Links used for the ‘world tour’ –https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality_and_religionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_themes_in_mythologyOn Natural Law ethics the Reasonable Doubts episode was #61:“The Curious Case of Robert P. George”.Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using: doubtsaloud@gmail.comJoin the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

Show NotesWe do a tour of the Bible and its material on same-sex relationships and sexual practice. We find that the story of Sodom isn’t the place to start and the OT Law has issues with interpretation. Jesus didn’t directly teach on the subject and so we spend more time with the references to it by Paul, in a long passage in Romans 1 (v 18-32) and a shorter one in 1Corinthians6v9. 1Tim1v10 is similar to the Corinthians one. Can we see Paul as condemning all same-sex practice?How this works out in Christian teaching and attitudes and the lack of a consistency was also worth pursuing. Next time we’ll carry on with material from Frances on the details of the Leviticus verses and the history behind them.Links:Was 1Corinthians6v9 just speaking of older men and teenage boys?https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/bsac/homosexuality_corinthians6.pdfThe married couple on the England women’s cricket team:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/cricket/64665943 The recent Unbelievable Show “Twoviews on LGBT and the Church - Andrew Bunt & Charlie Bell” 18/2/2023https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oA6XRXu504&list=PL2Ds_nyh5gM_8AMF7MZwur9-09a-NUayl&index=2Andrew’s Christian Diversity YouTube channel https://youtu.be/88w1UlErIzAandhttps://youtu.be/yK0AulaTn-Q Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using : doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/ Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

Episode 61 – Show NotesOccam’s Razor shows us how simple explanations are superior to complex ones and so simplicity is a concept that might lead us to believe in God as this one simple concept – a supernatural personal agent – can explain all the complexities of the world. We try to assess this line of thinking, especially using the work of the Oxford Christian philosopher Richard Swinburne who favours the approach. This then leads into the doctrine of Divine Simplicity which was prominent in the Medieval church (eg Aquinas). Of course Andrew brings us down to earth with what the Bible says about God and his simplicity. Links:BBC In Our Time podcast on Occamhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007m0w4Learned articles on Occam:https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/simplicity/... and on Divine Simplicityhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/divine-simplicity/To find a place where Swinburne’s ideas that Ed describes are set out without reading his book:https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cosmological-argument/Start well down where it says “In place of a deductive argument, Swinburne develops .....”The Unbelievable? Show which has Swinburne discussing with Bart Ehrman on sufferinghttps://www.premierunbelievable.com/unbelievable/unbelievable-10-jan-2009-the-problem-of-suffering-ehrman-and-swinburne/11625.articleDoubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using : doubtsaloud@gmail.comJoin the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

Episode 60– Show NotesJohn Nelson returned as our guest to start off 2023. He’s been monitoring the debate about what literary genre we should consider the gospels to be and what the implications would be if they are taken as biography in the Greek & Roman tradition. The question fits with his studies for his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in Christian Origins. John maintains that understanding biography allows us to avoid the crass literalism of fundamentalism (and its attendant overconfidence in our ability to recover the historical Jesus), on the one hand, and an equally flat dismissal of its historicity on the other. We chat about the different ways both apologists and counter-apologists misuse ancient biography for their historicising or mythologising agendas. I.e. we’re very much the pupils this episode. Links:The Unbelievable? Show which sets up this discussion (With Mike Licona and Richard Burridge)It’s the episode of 16 June 2017 ‘Why are there differences in Gospels?’ Also find these in your podcast app:‘NT Review’ episode 6 on Burridge’s thesis - they aren't convinced‘NT Review’ episode 17 - on the Prologue to the gospel of Luke – it’s not history but the 'science' genre‘NT Pod’ episode 98 with guest Robyn Walsh The book “Gospel Fictions” by Randel Helms that Andrew discussed (again): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gospel-Fictions-Randel-Helms/dp/0879755725 Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using : doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/ Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London If you see this soon after release ... John will be speaking on the topic on 9 Jan 2023

Episode 59– Show NotesWe had a great time with our guest Paul Thompson of the Skepticule Podcast. Paul has done a lot of research on St Nicolas and his afterlife as Santa Claus which we enjoyed. He also researched scams as part of the UK sceptical community and gave us the benefits by leading us through The Perfect Scam. So all good fun and games for the Christmas season.Links:The Unbelievable? Shows on which Paul has been a guest:20 Nov 2010 – with Philip Yancey on "What Good is God?"29 Jan 2011 – Human Value & Subversive StoriesFind the Skepticule Podcast in iTunes etc but sadly they are no longer producing new episodes.To reach out to Paul, ask us by gmail or find him on the official Unbelievable? Facebook discussion group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/unbelievablejb(you will find Frances and Ed fairly active there too) Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using : doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/ Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

Episode 58– Show NotesAndrew is on a roll again, reporting his research into flat earth beliefs in the Bible. Actually, it is just a component in a whole cosmology of how the ‘heavens’, earth and under the earth fit together. Spoiler – no turtles. This eventually moves on to Ed getting excited over whether Jesus was a flat earther. We can’t help but see how this leads to literalist Bible interpreters becoming flat earthers - as in members of the modern conspiracy theory – and how important they were in the rise of that movement.Links:The link with the picture that Andrew mentioned early onhttps://pursuingveritas.com/2014/05/14/ancient-hebrew-cosmology/The Dr Heiser 20 min video lecture that’s really helpfulhttps://youtu.be/CGQDa9Ojk64Another discussion from 2 evangelicals if you want it“Heaven & Earth • Episode 1 - What is the Old Testament referring to as "Heaven"?”https://bibleproject.com/podcast/heaven-earth-part-1/We mentioned Skydive Phil debating on this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6eEmfcMjDkFinally the 2018 documentary film to google is “Behind the Curve”.Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using : doubtsaloud@gmail.comJoin the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

Episode 57– Show Notes We start with methodological naturalism and whether rejecting can be scientifically legitimate, as this is the next chapter in our 50 Arguments for God book. Chapter title: “The Scientific Status of Design Inferences”. We discuss the argument in the chapter for rejecting methodological naturalism when it comes to the ‘science’ of Intelligent Design. For us the boundaries of this ‘methodological naturalism free-zone’ is the problem.This leads us on to considering if methodological naturalism doesn’t apply in science or in life. God is seen as intervening in the Bible. What are the implications? Is this what we see in the world? What about the idea that we might have heard in school assembly - we are God’s or Jesus’s hands and feet?Links:The book by Thom Stark that we mentioned: “The Human Faces of God” by Thom Stark and John Collinshttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Thom-Stark/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3AThom+Stark And “Evidence for God: 50 Arguments for Faith from the Bible, History, Philosophy and Science” by Mike Licona and William Dembski. https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Evidence+for+God%3A+50+Arguments&i=stripbooks&crid=2JZMR7RRQTQ9P&sprefix=evidence+for+god+50+arguments+%2Cstripbooks%2C108&ref=nb_sb_noss Doubts Aloud Links:Please give feedback and ask questions using : doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/ Meet us all in person again at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London

Episode 56– Show NotesWe’re delighted to welcome SkyDive Phil back on the show. Not on vegetarianism as we’d trailed (please be patient) but on his recent work on the Kalam Cosmological Argument. The most prominent form of the argument, as defended by Christian apologist and philosopher William Lane Craig, states the Kalam cosmological argument as the following syllogism: Everything that begins to exist has a cause.The universe began to exist.Therefore, the universe has a cause. The conclusion is then used to fit God to that cause. Phil has released a long video based on interviews with scientists, philosophers and mathematicians. It covered various ways the premises have been defended. Craig subsequently responded to the video using his podcast YouTube outlet and then Phil prepared a second video to reply to William Craig. Here’s the links to the Phil videos: https://youtu.be/pGKe6YzHiMEandhttps://youtu.be/femxJFszbo8 This was a massive amount of work by Phil and his team and the results are brilliantly helpful. It was great to chat through with Phil on the material, his experience in doing this and how the various participants (not least Craig) view such debate and discussion. Doubts Aloud Links:Please leave us a review on iTunes and we will respond to any question asked there with the review. Or give feedback and ask questions using : doubtsaloud@gmail.com Join the Facebook Group discussions:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1023280847835278/ Meet us all in person at the monthly “Unbelievable Christian and Skeptic Discussion Group” in central London, see:https://www.meetup.com/Unbelievable-Christian-and-Skeptic-Discussion-Group-London